This may be a terrible thing to say, but I'll say it anyway: Bill Wirtz's passing was the best thing to happen to the Chicago Blackhawks in 50 years.

I live in the Chicago radio market, and this is the sentiment of 100% of Blackhawk fans. He was the only vote against the CBA coming out of the season-long lockout, and he voted against it because it included a salary floor.

This may be a terrible thing to say, but I'll say it anyway: Bill Wirtz's passing was the best thing to happen to the Chicago Blackhawks in 50 years.

They booed his tribute when it was shown on the jumbo-tron.

His kid Rocky = the apple that fell far and rolled 1,000 miles from the tree

Not dis-similar to the NFL's Colts btw. Robert Irsay was a terrible owner who stole the Colts from Baltimore and treated his players like crap and the fans worse. His son Jim realized how bad it was, and while he won't say it directly he is obviously embarrased about his father's legacy in the NFL. Jim Irsay has said that he wants to model the Colts after the Steelers, and the Irsay family from him thorugh the future after the Rooneys. (I hate typing that on a Pittsburgh board.)

I would suspect that this is more common than we realize among family-owned franchises.